Who's Ready to Dance?

Wow...it's been an incredible couple of days here in Uganda! I'm going to try and catch you all up very quickly before we head out for safari tomorrow. And let me just say - we have done A LOT of dancing! 

Sunday

Pastor Chris preaching at Christian Revival Center

On Sunday, we attended Christian Revival Center for worship, which is pastored by Pastor Counselor and his wife, Barbie. CCPC has visited this church for the past three mission trips and continues to build our relationship with them. This service was such a different experience for all of us! It did end up being a little over three hours long and included singing, dancing, prayer, kids choirs, and Pastor Chris preaching from Philippians.

Something that I thought was so encouraging to see was that several, if not all, of the Mirembe House and Suubi Home girls were in attendance. CRC is basically "across the street" from the YFC office, and so is in walking distance for these girls to attend, so this was a wonderful way for us to interact with them! 

At the very end of the service, we were able to gift the church with a projector and guitar to use during their worship services (the guitar was donated by More Than Music - thank you!). 

I can't share everything now to describe this service to you - but you should ask a student you know what they thought about it when we return!

Monday

Today we had our last full day of ministry - visiting three schools and then working on a service project at Christian Revival Center (where we attended church on Sunday). I just have to say, I am so impressed and proud of the way our students have stepped up to lead and participate in everything asked of them by us and the YFC team during these school visits. Whether it is Andrew springing dance moves on us or stepping up to play roles in the skits, they have done such a great job serving the Lord and loving on all of the kids in these schools who are so excited to see them. 

Dance battle at school visit #1

After two school visits, we met together to have lunch at YFC and meet some new people and old friends. Several students who are sponsored by CCPC members came by to meet us and offer their thanks to those who have helped them get into university courses and other programs - you will hear more about that later! Additionally, some of the previous G21 team members dropped by to say hello and do our last school visit and work project with us. 

Andrew cutting up sugar cane for us to try at lunch

Just so you have an idea of one of the things we do at school visits, I've uploaded the video below (sorry about the audio quality). At all of the schools, we introduce ourselves by saying our names, but sometimes, Andrew or Fatit surprise us and make us do a dance move before saying our names to the class. This was one of those times (it's hard to hear the names, but you get the idea). The G21 team also taught us a dance to Ugandan Christian music that we perform at every school - the kids always get a kick out of the muzungus "dancing"! You can watch those videos by clicking here.

We finished the day by helping move bricks and dirt for the new pastoral office they are building for the Christian Revival Center. It was a great way to wrap up our serving time as we worked alongside the G21 students, YFC staff, CRC staff, and children who attend the school there. It was a huge group effort and a lot of progress was made in a couple short hours. Again, I'm so proud of our students and how they jump in wherever help is needed. It's been a privilege to watch. 

Of course - no work project in Uganda is complete without spontaneous dance breaks!

The day concluded with dinner, devo time, and worship with the G21 team. We truly have become a full team - muzungus and G21 Ugandans together. 

As I said - what a crazy few days! But they have been so beautiful. Watching everyone participate in new worship styles, give out high fives to every child in a school, and pass bricks down a huge line has been an encouragement to me and I know it is a blessing to the people here. 

Tomorrow is another early morning as we have to take a very long ride up to Murchison Falls National Park. We will be there until Thursday, and then return to our home base near Matugga for a last farewell dinner with the Youth for Christ/YFC team. 

Thanks for reading and being a source of support for us! We appreciate all of your prayers. Goodnight!